[quote=“00Scott”]I had assumed teaching English in Taiwan was more or less like working in McDonald’s, where all the cashiers can tell you what you can expect to make, and not something more … respectable? I also assumed that most chain-schools would have a fixed pay scale and set hours. Maybe this perspective is a little crude, but it has proven more or less correct for most of the schools I’ve walked into (though I will admit that WSI was the first school I visited and that I’ve since taken up a more diplomatic and patient approach).
As for showing off my Chinese, I think you’ve got the wrong idea there. I felt at the time that I was being fed a lot of polite nonsense in English while the staff openly discussed me in Chinese. I was hoping a little code switching might get me some straight answers, or at least encourage the staff behave professionally in both languages. If this was all poorly done, my apologies. I was rather affronted at the time with treatment I’ve since come to see is par for the course.[/quote]
I can remember a time when I, about 10 years ago, would walk to bushibans in a t-shirt and bicycle shorts and almost get hired on the spot. In fact, I turned down a job once because the head foreign teacher there had the nerve to actually sit me down and interview me. It seems teachers and bushiban staffers take their jobs a little more seriously these days, but what I don’t understand is why hourly teacher wages have barely risen in a decade.
00Scott, you weren’t wrong to assume English teaching was like working at McDonald’s, you just had the misfortune of walking into a school that caters to a higher-end clientele and is a little more with-it in marketing than your average school. You should also see some red flags in work places you notice it seems people are sworn to secrecy. (Unless its something like the military or defense industry, but a bushiban in a developing country?)
I am sure WS is a great place to learn and work. The decor is an impressive, brilliant marketing plan that screams “Yuppie come learn here” and I assume the place is devoid of sweaty children and the street food they bring in between classes–another plus in my book.
I disagree with Mr. Wall Street Counter Man, however, on some things. If you get a friendly counter person, or a naive “hsio jie” you probably can ask how much to expect, although not in a loud tone. (I agree most counterpeople wouldn’t give you an exact amount.)
Mr. Wall Street’s counterstaff is probably repeatedly coached to not divulge any salary info, and certainly the school’s all-glass-wall set up does not afford much secrecy. You made the girls nervous when you started speaking Chinese. Judging from the school’s success, Mr. WS Boss is an experienced, savvy person in the bushiban biz and knows how to keep from being had by Mr. Foreigner.
I also disagree that the ability to speak Chinese would somehow hamper your chances of getting an English teaching job. In fact, the schools I worked for welcomed my ability to smoothly communicate with the staff and that I would be able to handle myself should the Chinese aide call in sick. Speak casually to a group of kids in Chinese and they are thrilled silly by it. In fact, if anything, it will help you bargain on work conditions and keep you from getting scammed.
Sorry, White Fellow, but a guy asking about a job at your school to the counterstaff is administrative-related, and has no effect on this guy’s or your school’s ability to provide an English environment.
And there is nothing rude about a foreigner speaking the national language of the Republic of China to a citizen of the Republic of China while in the Republic of China, especially when you are being fed a “lot of polite nonsense”. 00Scott’s right – true professionals would act professional in both languages. Tell your boss to add that to the Secret Rule Book Foreigners Can’t See behind the counter. In fact, a lot of the crap I got from other White Staffers at English schools in the past was just because I could speak Chinese and they couldn’t.
I can understand having to introduce yourself and fill out an application or hand in a resume, that’s fair, but an essay? An essay? An essay for a job in a bushiban in a developing country where foreigners are, due to the laws of supply and demand, a commodity? And please teachers, insist on doing your own taxes. Don’t let schools “take care of it for you.”
